The Best Hair Braiding for Your Facial Shape

Ever seen a hair braiding nightmare? Blond, wispy-haired tourists returning from the Caribbean with sunburned scalps and a couple dozen of straggling microbraids. The girl at the prom who wanted to do something different with her hair and ended up with a weird braided updo, parted in all of the wrong places. The guy with the hippy hair braiding who has the facial shape for a crew cut.

How do you get it right with hair braiding?

One of the tests you can perform yourself is checking out your facial shape. Once you’ve pegged your facial shape, you can determine whether the cornrows or the French plaits will look good on you.

Stand in front of the bathroom mirror, pull all of your hair braiding glory back, and outline the contour of your face onto the mirror with a crayon (or lipstick, if you’d like to be dramatic!).

Hair braiding and facial shapes

Based on your facial shape, here are a few rules of thumb for hair braiding:

Diamond and oval: Your face looks good with any braided hairstyle. So make the most of it! Hair braiding may be one of your best options because you simply can’t go wrong.

Rectangular or oblong: You know those pioneer braids with the center part? Ban them from your thoughts. This type of hair braiding will only make your face look longer. The same goes with leaving your braids long; gather them up for a much more flattering look.

Round: Go for any hair braiding styles that will make your face look oval. Your stylist should be able to help you with this. The one braided look you should stay away from are Princess Leia buns of Star Wars fame: Braided buns at the height of the ears will only make your face look wider.

Square: Any hair braiding that leaves a fringe or bangs at the front to frame and soften the sharp contours of your face will be acceptable. Avoid slicked-back plaits.

Heart: Don’t pile microbraids at your crown; they’ll make your chin look long and thin. It’s probably not a good idea to have very tight cornrows combed severely off of your face, either. Leave some nice wisps around your face.

Triangular: If you leave your hair long, sweep up your braids at the nape of your neck to balance your face. You’ll also do well with short microbraids.